FaceTime Eye Contact feature, which Apple released with iOS 14 and higher. makes it appear like you are looking right at the camera, even when you are actually looking at your friend on the screen. If you find this artificial trick a bit creepy, rest assured you can turn it off at any time. This feature tells me that Apple engineers have too much time on their hands; it is a weird feature.
In typical video chat scenarios, you want to look at your friend while you talk to them. When you do, you are obviously not looking at the camera. So from your friend’s perspective, you look like you are looking slightly below eye level. The new feature aims to fix that issue by using software to “move” your eyes into an eye contact position. It works really well; perhaps a little too well.
Aside from creating the “fake” feeling of authentic eye contact during a video conversation, FaceTime’s new feature can also make the other caller feel like you are staring into the abyss of your camera and not at them. We have gotten so used to where the eyes actually are in video calls that when they are pointed right at us all of the time, it looks intimidating and unnatural; like you are not really paying attention; and that’s not necessarily how a regular talk goes.
The somewhat spooky Eye Contact feature for FaceTime, is only available for iPhone XS and above. Ironically, this feature is turned On by default. Let’s explore how to turn this feature Off.
This is for the iPhone running iOS 14
First, open Settings (the gear icon) on your iPhone. Refer to below image:
Next, in Settings, scroll down and tap FaceTime. See below image:
Now. In FaceTime settings, scroll down and toggle the switch beside Eye Contact to turn it Off. See below image:
This disables the fake and creepy “natural eye contact” feature. Refer to below image:
Now, exit the Settings app. The next time you use FaceTime, your pupils will be exactly where you would expect them to be. Reality wins over this creepy feature.
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